Armature winding machine



May 26, 1942; 9 2,284,115

ARMATURE WINDING MACHINE Filed April 15, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 26, 1942 ARMATURE WINDING MACHINE Otto Wirth, Zollikon, near Zurich," Switzerland,

assignor to Micafil joint stock company Ltd.

Zurich, Switzerland, a

Application April 15, 1939, Serial No. 268,105 In Switzerland April 21, 1938 15 Claims. The winding machines known hitherto for winding slotted armatures with wire coils, particularly for commutator motors, enable the work to be done much more quickly than when the Winding is done by hand. With both processes,

however, switching over from one pair of slotsto the next requires the same amount of time.

'According to the invention this time is reduced to a fraction of that required formerly. The invention concerns an armature winding machine which once it has been adjusted does not require any further manipulation except forchanging the winding material. It enables the time required to wind small armatures to be reduced to between a sixth and. a twentieth of the time previously required and furthermore possesses the advantage that with an exactly calculable output per unit of time it delivers an entirely regular and nicely wound armature.

The armature winding machines known hitherto are equipped with a counter on which the number of turns of the armature coil to be wound can be set as desired and which interrupts the winding process when the set number of turns are reached. The armature winding machine according to the invention also possesses such a counter. The main feature of this counter is that when the desired number of coil turns has been reached it automatically causes the armature to be given an advancing movement such that the slot pair with the just completed coil is replaced by the next empty slot pair and at the same time effects the operations connected with the slot advancing movement.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an example of how the invention is carried into effect, Figure 1 showing a longitudinal section of the armature winding machine, Figure 2 a view of the driving end with cover removed; Figure 3 upper part, shows a partial view of the face-plate to which the armature is fastened and the lower part shows an end view of the inside of the bedplate on the armature side. Figure 4 shows a detail on the faceplate in section, Figure 5 shows a plan view and Figure 6 an elevation of the clamping and wire tensioning device of the armature with the wire guide jaws in the open position, Figures 7, 8 and 9 show details of the stopping control mechanism, Fig. 10 shows vdetails of the operation of the Wire guide to the armature, and Fig. 11 is a partialsectional view on the line I II I of Fig. 1 showing the wire looping means and'wire guide release.

It is required for example to wind six coils 4 of n turns of insulated wire 3 in the six slots 2 cated in the machine frame I8 ofthe armature I and then to interrupt automatically the winding operation. The wire comes from the feed drum 5 and runs over the guide pulleyB to the winding machine. Guide jaws 1; of known design are provided which project slightly into both the armature slots to'be filled by the coil in question and serve to guidethe wire 3. As shown in Figure 5 the armature I is'rotatable about the shaft 8 supported between'centres 9 carried by arms Qamoun'ted on the' face plate I 8 and adjustable in the diametrically arranged slits II (see Figure 3) in the faceplate l0 being clamped in adjusted position by suitable means, not shown. In a radial slot I2 (see Figure 1) located perpendicularly to the slits II is a slid ing carriage I3 with a hinged spring-loaded pawl.

I 4 which is adjustable and engages with an armature slot thus causing it to advance and fixing the armature I in the position required for the time being. The carriage I3 is yieldingly pressed by a spring I3 to the outer end of the slot I2 and carries a radially disposed rod I3 which normally extends into an opening Ill in the rim of faceplate I0. on the shaft I5 which is carried by bearings and is driven through a belt pulley I1 by an electric motor 86 which includes in its feeding circuit a switch I6. The gearwheels I9, drive the shaft 2| on'which the cam 22 ismounted. The revolutions of the shaft I5 are transmitted by gearing 23 to the counter 24 located on the frame I8.

A second drive separate from that required for the winding process is provided for advancing" -the slots and for finally stopping the winding process. It is actuated as shown in Figures 1' and Zbythe driving pulley 25 which through worm 26 drives gear 26a and friction coupling member 2! rotatably mounted on the shaft 28 located in the bedplate 29 of the machine. The coupling member 21 is provided with a friction facing and is spring pressed into engagement with a driven friction member 21a rigidly mounted on the shaft 28, thus establishinga frictional slip driving connection to the shaft 28. A two-armed lever 42 pivoted on shaft 43 carries a roller 83 at one end which is engaged by a stop 82 mounted on the coupling member 21a to prevent driving of the shaft 28 by the friction coupling except when the lever 42 is rocked to a position to move the roller 83 out of the path of stop 82.

As shown in Figure 3, a pinion on shaft 28 engages an idler control gear 3|, which has a number of teeth equal to the product of the num- The faceplate I8 is mounted 2. her of teeth on the pinion 30 and the number of slots in the armature. to be wound. The gear wheel 3| is replaced by another having the requisite number of teeth, depending on the number of slots in the armature and its mounting bar 32 is made adjustable to accommodate different sized gears to the pinion 30. When the armature, and likewise the gear 3|, has made one complete revolution, a stop 33 on the gear 3| engages a cam 34 carried by the control lever 34a of the switch 35 which controls the motor for driving the face plate ID as well. as the motor, not shown, which drives the shaft 28. Thus,

when all of the slots are wound, the'circuit to.

the driving motors will be automatically inter rupted. The machine is started by pressing the button 36 on the switch 35. By 'pressinga second button 31 the machine can stopped at any time. H I The remaining parts of the machine not already mentioned are explained in connection with the following description of the method of operation of the machine. After, a gear wheel 3| corresponding to the number ofarmature slots has been fitted and counter 24 set for the number of turns per armature coil, the beginning of the winding wire 3 is fastened to the'armature fixed between centres 9 on the set into operation by pressing the button 36 to closethe circuit through switch 35. Since the switch l6 which is electricallyin series with the switch 35 is already in the circuit closing position the winding motor immediately starts to run and through the pulley |1 sets the winding mechanism into operation. The wire 3 is wound into two slots of the armature the edges of the guide jaws I projecting into these.

'Shortly before all the turns of the coil have been wound, for example five turns before reaching the set number of turns per coil, the counter 24 releasesthe stopping and advancing mechanism. This is accomplished by an arm 38 which'is raised by the counter mechanism five turns before the number for which the counter is set. The arm 38 is connected by means of the tension rod 39 to one end of the lever 40 on the opposite end of which there is a pawl 4| which normally engages a detent 4|azon the upper end offlever 42. When arm- 38 is raised, pawl 4| moves out of the path of detent Ma and releases the double-armed lever 42 for rocking motion'about the shaft 43. This lever carries a'roller 44 which when the lever 42 is freed is pulled by the'spring 45 against the cam'22 the contours of which regulate the retardation and stopping of I the faceplate ID. The cam 22-which is fast on the shaft 2| revolves oncewhile the faceplate makes five more revolutions.

(Themovement of the roller 44 of the lever 42 from zone I to .zone 11 on the cam 22 as the latter rotates causes a rocking pressure to be exertedonthe crank lever (see Figure 2) pivoted about the shaft 2| and pivotally connected at 5|a to a shiftable operating rod 52 for switch [6, thus pulling the rod 52 to the left as viewed inFigs. 2, 8 and 9 which switches off the winding motor by means of the switch |6operated thereby.

jThe left end of rod 52 is reduced, forming a shoulder 52a, and the reduced end passes through an upstanding rocker arm llfi mounted'fast on a rock shaft 41, A spring 50, confined between the-arm 46 and a handwheel 50a threaded on the reduced end of therod 52; yieldingly urges the immediately be faceplate l0 and the machine armature winding to the commutator.

' Figure 4);

rocker arm 46 to the right against the roller 44. A bell crank lever 48, mounted fast on the other end of the rock shaft block 49 which presses against the rim of the faceplate! and causes a braking action when the rocker arm 46 is released upon movement of the roller 44 from position I to. position II. The pressure of the spring 5U producing the braking power can be so adjusted by means of the handwheel that after four revolutions the speed of the faceplate I0 is so reduced that the second movement of the roller 44 of lever 42 from zone II to zone men the cam 22 occurs.

' Forthesake of clearness arm 46 is not shown inl-Fi-gure l and must be assumed to be mounted on shaft 41.

whenfmoving from zone II to zone III the roller moves the arm 5| upwards still further and the. rod 52 pivoted'to it is shifted further to the left and pushes the arm 46 backwards against the tension of spring 50, thus rocking the shaft 41 b'ackjso. that the brake 49 is lifted from the faceplate l0 see Figs. 3 and9 and-at the same time theconical roller 53 situated onthe other a mor the bell-crank lever 48-.is pressed lntoa peripheral groove 54 in the faceplate 10 (see Roller 53 is' driven separately and at constant speed through a slip coupling 55, worm gearing 56 and pulley 51 by theadvancing motor 81; Asa result of the frictional effect in the groove the faceplate I0 is rotated until the stop pin 58 engagesiwith the traphole 59 in the faceplate |0- whereupon this latter remains-fixed in a po'sition 'wherethe slit I2 is vertical and'the slits horizontal. a r i At the same time lever 42 (see Figs. 2 and 7) has fallen from zone III on cam 22 into the trough IV whereby roller 83 on the lower end of lever 42 is-swurig away from under'stop 82 and releases the locking of the control shaft 28 which is thereupon driven by the frictioncoupling 21 -2111. Themovement for advancing the slots then commences and is as follows: by means of the'cam'84 on shaft 28, Figs. 1 and 11 the looping de'vice; consisting of an upstanding curved arm 50 carried at oneend of a crank-arm 60a which ispivotally mounted on pivot shaft 60b. The plate-like end of the crank arm- 60a car-- ries-a roller 600 which engages an eccentric groove 84:; inadi'sc mounted fast on the shaft 28. A' steel wire hook 6|:is carried at the upper end of the arm.6|l. -When the disc 84.is rotated by-shaft28; the arm 60 is lifted into the position shown in Figure 5, the steel wire hook 6| seizes the windingwire 3,'draws it forward and (see Figure 5) throws it over the hook 62 fixedxto the lever 63- carried by the shaft 8 offset from the armature "(see- Figures 5 and 6) whereupon the looping device 60 returns tothe position of rest. The wire loop thus formed. serves to connect the Inthe meantime the pawl |4 for turning and advancing-'the'armature (see Figure l) is moved up out of rest position by means of cam 64 mounted on the shaft 28 and push rod 65. actuatedthereby, the latterpassing through opening Illa in the rim of faceplate I0 and engaging the end of rod |3b causing: carriage |3 'to move up towards shaft |5 against the tension of spring Ba. when'the pawl 14 is free of the'armature l =gu'ide jaws open and paWlfM which is. now again moving'downwards under force: of spring |3a engages with the next slot in :the' armature I and -rotats it-one slotdivision i'n the direction indicated by the arrow into 'the nextiwindingi 41, carries a cork brakev position. Guide jaws 1 (see Figures 1, 5, 6, and 11) are made to open byjmeansof push rod 66 and cam 6'! mountedon shaft 28. 'The end piece 68 of push rod 66 has a locking actionwhen engaged in the groove 69 of the boss of the guide jaw carrier 10 journalled 'on the pedestal 12.-

The push rod 66 carries a- U-shaped pusher member 1|,the arms of which straddle the jaw carrier 10 in the upper position of'the rod 66 and engage pins 13a carried by jaw operating levers 13b fastened on shaft M journalled 'on the jaw carrier. Links 73, eccentrically' pivotally connected to shaft '14 at one end and pivotally con-- nected to jaw arms hr at the other, 'serveto spread the jaws or draw them togethen upon actuation or release of levers 13b by pusher H. The yielding end piece of push rod 66 actsto lock the jaw carrier against rotation while the pusher H is moving into and. out of engagement with arms 13b and the members 64, B1 and 84a are disposed in relation to each other 'so that the looping of the wire, opening of the jaws, the advancing of the armature and closing of the jaws, occur in the proper timer sequence. I

During these movements the counter w 24 is brought to the zero position when the flattened peripheral face 15 of the passive half 21a of couplin 2l21a passes roller 16 situated on lever 11 which is hinged about the pivot 18, thus enabling the spring 79 to pull downwards the lever 11 and the tension rod 80 actuating counter 24.

Before the control shaft 28 comes to rest again the wedge 81 located on the passive half 21a of the coupling 21-2111 pulls by-means of roller 83 the lower arm of lever 42 to the right. Theupper limb of lever 42 thus returns to the starting position shown in Figure 2 and is held there by the pawl 4|, controlled by the counter 24, until the winding motor is stopped again. The .return swing of lever 42 causes through arm. 4| and rod 52 the switch I6 to be closed so that the winding motor commences to run again.

In addition to counting the windings the number of slots must also be counted in an analogous manner in order to be able to interrupt the winding process when the armature is finished. For this purpose the pinion 30 at the end of the control shaft 28 (see Figures 1 and 3) engages'with the gear wheel 3| which as already mentioned has a number of teeth equal to. the Droductof the number of teeth on the'pinion and the number of armature slots. The wheel 3|v therefore rotates through the same angle as thearmature I. After a complete revolution the stop 33 lifts the cam 34 of the switch 35 and thisstops the entire drive of the machine. The machine is brought to a standstill when the guide jaws are open, the hinged pawl M .in the upper position and the looping device 66 is above the armature I, so that the armature can be removed from the machine and replaced by a new one without further manipulation.

It is of course possible to operate the machine with a single driving motor in which case the switch 16 for the winding motor is replaced by a clutch.

We claim:

1. In a machine for winding slotted armatures, an armature holding frame, driving means for revolving said frame, counter mechanism for counting the revolutions of said frame, means under control of said counter mechanism for interrupting the driving of said frame when a desired number of turns have been made,

means under control of said:countingmechanism for imparting step by step' rotation-to sai'darmature about its axis after the completion ofeach winding operation to present an unwound set of slots to be wound and for restarting said driving means after each advancing step of said armature. w

- 2. In a machine for winding slotted armatures, a rotatable armature holding frame, means for mounting an armature in said frame for rotation about its own axis and with its axis at right angles -tothe axis of rotation of said holding frame, driving means for rotating said holding frame, a counter mechanism for counting the revolutions of said holding frame, rotatably mounted wire guiding jawsadapted to engage in spaced slots of said armature, means for spreading said jaws, means for rotatably advancing said armature step by step about its own axis, control means operating in timed relation with said rotatable armature holding frame and under control of said counter mechanism, and means subject to-said control means for interrupting the drive of said rotatable frame,braking and stopping the same, effecting advancing of said armature, and for reestablishing the drive of said rotatable frame, in sequence upon the completionof a selected number of turns of said frame.

3. A machine as defined in claim 2 in which said control means includes a rotatable cam member driven in timed relation with said rotatable frame and an operations control lever biased to follow said cam but releasably retained in a retracted position by means under controlof said counter mechanism, said means being released by said counter mechanism when a selected number of turns have been made.

4. A machine as defined in claim 2 in which said control means includes a rotatable cam' member driven in timed relation with said rotatable frame and an operations control lever biased to follow said cam but releasably retained in a retracted position by means under control of said counter mechanism, said means being released by said counter mechanism a selected number of turns before the desired number are made to provide a stopping period for said rotatable frame. V

5. A machine as defined in claim 2 in which said control means includes a rotatable cam member driven in timed relation with said rotatable frame and an operations control lever biased to follow said cam but releasably retained in a retracted position by means under control of said counter mechanism, said means being re leased by said counter mechanism a selected number of turns before the desired number are made 'to provide a stopping period for said rotatable frame, the driving ratio between said cam and said rotatable frame being such that said cam makes one revolution during the stopping period of said frame.

6. A machine as defined in' claim 2 in which said control means includes a rotatable cam member driven in timed relation with said rotatable frame and an operations control lever biased to follow said cam but releasably-retained in a retracted position by means under control of said counter mechanism, said means being released by said counter mechanism a selected number of turns before the desired number are made to provide a stopping period for said'rotatable frame, the driving ratio between said cam and said rotatable frame being such that said -cam .makes. one mevolutionduring the stopameter thereof parallel to the axis of the armature. x

8. In a machine for winding slotted armatures, a rotatable face plate having a peripheral braking surface, armature holding frame members carried by said faceplate havingmeans for supporting an armature for rotation about its own axis and with its axis parallel to said plate, driving means forrotating-said face plate, means for interrupting the drive 'of said face plate, braking means adapted to engage said braking surface of said plate, stop means adapted to engage said plate, rotatably mounted wire guiding jaws adapted to engage in spaced slots of an armature mounted on said plate, means for spreading said jaws to release said armature, means for rotating said armature step by step about its own axisto advance the slots therein with respect to, said-jaws, a counter mechanism for counting the revolutions of said face plate, control means operated intimed relation with said rotatable face plate and under control of said counter mechanism for sequentially effecting operation of said drive interrupting means, braking means, stop means, jaw spreading means and armature advancing means upon the completion of a selected number of turns of said frame and means for-reestablishing the drive to said face plate upon completion of the sequential operation of said means aforesaid.

9. A machine as defined in claim 8 in which said control means comprises a rotatable cam driven in timed relation with said face plate and an operations control lever biased to follow said cam but releasably held in a retracted position by means under control of said counter mechanism, said cam having four zones, means for applying said'braking means when said lever engages one zone of said cam, means for releasing said brakingmeans when said lever engages the next zone of said cam, friction drive means engageable with said face plate in the last mentioned position of said lever for imparting further rotation to said plate, said stop means then engaging said plate to stop the same with the axis of said armature in ahorizontal position.

10. A machine as defined in'claim 2 in which said control means includes a rotatable cam member driven in timed relation with said robiased to follow said cam and releasably retained in a retracted position by means under control of saidcounter mechanism, said means being released by said counter mechanism when a selected number of turns have been made, a rotatable shaft, a driving connection to said shaft, means on said operations control lever for preventing r0- tation of said shaft when said lever is in retracted position, a bentlever having a wire engaging hook at one end thereof adapted to engage the winding wire at the completion of a winding operation to forma loop, means actuated from said shaft upon stopping of the winding operation for operating said loop forming lever, locking said-rotatable guide jaws against rotation, opening said jaws, actuating said armature advancing means, closing said jaws, releasing the jaw locking means and throwing said operations controllever ,to retractedposition.

12. A machine as defined'in claim 2 in which I said control means includes a rotatable cam member driven in timed relation with said rotatable frame and an operations control lever biased to follow said cam and releasably retained in a retracted position by means under control of said counter mechanism, said means being released by said counter mechanism when a selected number of turns have been made, a rotatable shaft, means for driving the same, means on said operations control lever for preventing rotation of said shaft when said lever is in retracted position, a bent leverhaving a wire engaging hook on one end adapted to engage the winding wire at the completion of each coil winding operation to form a loop, a plurality of cam means carried by said rotatable shaft, connections between certain of said cam means and the bent lever, the guide jaw operating means, the armature advancing means respectively to effect operation thereof in sequence upon rotation of said shaft, one of said cam means being adapted to engage said operations control lever to return the same to retracted position and effect resetting of said counter.

13. A machine according to claim 8 in which said face plate is provided with a guide slot extending at right angles to the axis of an armature carried by said frame members and said means for rotating said armature step by step comprises a slidable carriage operating in said guide slot and a pawl carried by said carriage adapted to-engage the armature to rotate the same a desired amount on each reciprocation of said carriage.

14. A machine as defined in claim 2 in which said control means includes a rotatable cam member driven in timed relation with said rotatable frame and an operations control lever biased to follow said cam and releasably retained in a retracted position by means under control tatable frame and an operations control lever biased to follow said cam and releasably retained in a retracted position by means under control of said counter mechanism, said means being released by said counter mechanism when a selected number of turns have been made, a rotatable shaft for actuating 'said armature advancing means and means on said lever for preventing rotation of said shaft when said lever is in said retracted position. p

11; A machine as defined in claim 2 in which said control means includes a rotatable cam member driven in timed relation with said rotatable frame and an operations control lever of said counter mechanism, said means being released by said counter mechanism when a selected number of turns have been made, a rotatable shaft for actuating said armature advancing means, means on said lever for preventing rotation of said shaft when said lever is in said retracted position, a stop switch, and means actuated from said shaft for operating said switch to stop the machine upon completion of the winding operations on the armature.

15. A machine as defined-in claim 2 in whic said control means includes a rotatable cam member driven in timed relation with said rotatable frame and an operations control lever biased to follow said cam and releasably retained in a retracted'position by means under control said rotatable shaft for operating'said stop switch, said gear being interchangeable with others and having a number of teeth calculated in relation to the armature being wound so that said gear 5 is driven thro' ture.

ugh the same angle as said armaoT'ro WIRTH. 

